Brick-stroking-off machine.



H. G. KUNKL-E.

BRICK STROKING-OFFI MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED mmz a, 1908.- 944;,4.47.Patented Dec; 28, 1909. I I 3 3 sums-sum 1.

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H. C KUNKLE. BRICK STROKING-OPF MAGHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 8. 1908.

Paterited Dec.28,1909.

aid-Egg H. G. KUNKLE.

BRICK STROKING-OFF MACHINE. APPLIOATION FILED JULY 8. 1908.

Patented Dec.28,1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITE STATES FTCE.

ATEN

BRICK-STROKING-OFF MACHINE.

Application filed July 8, 1908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY C. KUNKLE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Canton, in the county of Stark and State of Ohio, haveinvented a new and useful Brick- Sticking-Off Machine, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in machines to be used in themanufacture of pressed brick, and consists in a machine designed tostroke-off or shave the edges of the bricks along the top of the mold,after they have gone through the press. Heretofore in the art of pressedbrick making the bricks have been made in molds of, say, six bricks eachand after the said molds with the bricks therein, have gone through thepress it has been necessary to stroke-off the top edges of said bricks.Usuallythis has been successfully accomplished only by hand, a workmanusing a large knife with a handle at each end for the purpose of shavingoff the tops of the bricks along the top edge of the mold by pushing thesaid knife across the mold and at the same time imparting areciprocating motion to the knife in order to accomplish the object moreeasily and neatly.

In the manufacture of pressed bricks the clay in the molds at the timewhen it is necessary to perform the operation just mentioned is in aplastic condition, and the surplus clay shaved off by the knife has atendency to adhere to the said knife. It has been found that the mostpractical method of removing this from the cutting edge of the knife isby running the edge of said knife into sand, and while such method issatisfactory it necessarily requires time and extra labor. The pressesnow in use turn out a large number of bricks per hour and it requiresmuch labor and diligence to properly stroke-off the bricks in the mannermentioned but the possibility of imparting motion to the'stroking-olfknife in several directions while crossing the top of the mold when theoperation is done by hand has induced manufacturers to continue thismethod even though tedious and expensive. After the bricks have beenstroked off as above described it is necessary to ar or rap the molds soas to loosen the bricks in order that they may be removed. This is anoperation which requires care so that the bricks be not injured orrapped out of shape.

The objects of my improvement are to Specification of Letters Patent.

Serial No. 442,469.

accomplish the operations mentioned by machinery in a quick uniform andthoroughly satisfactory manner, and I accomplish these objects by themechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1is a top View of the machine as arranged in connection with a brickpress, a small portion of said brick press being also shown. Fi 2 is aside elevation of the machine taken on the clutch side of the same. Fig.3 is a sectional view of the clutch mechanism. Fig. at is a sideelevation of the machine on the belt driving side of the same, andshowing the relation of the said machine to the brick press, a portionof which is shown. Fig. 5 is a sectional View taken on a plane indicatedby the line 55, in Fig. i. Fig. 6 is a sectional view partially brokenaway taken on the plane indicated by the line 6-6, in Fig. 1. Fig. 7 isa sectional View taken on a plane indicated by the line 7-7, in Fig. 1.Fig. 8 is a view of a detached portion of the frame of the machinedesigned for the mounting of the clutch and rapping actuating mechanism.Fig. 9 is a detached view of one of the buffers. Fig. 10 is a detachedview of a Patented Dec. 28, 1909.

portion of the rapping mechanism. Fig. 11

is a detached view of the main shaft of the machine together with thenecessary mechanical connections for actuating the head, knife and belt.

Throughout the several views similar numerals of reference indicatesimilar parts.

The numeral 1 indicates the table of the pressed brick machine uponwhich the molds containing the bricks are pushed out by the said machineafter the operation of pressing.

2 indicates the supporting legs of the stroking-off machine. Upon theselegs is mounted the sub-table 3 whereto are attached to the two I-beamsor guides 4 for the purpose of providing a way upon which the head ofthe machine may travel back and forth.

5 is a casting designed for the support of the main shaftand immediatelyrelated mechanism and also the rapping mechanism.

6 is the delivery table of the stroking-off machine.

7 indicates molds containing bricks.

88 are main shaft supports provided with boxes of any usual and approvedpattern, in which is journaled the main shaft 9. To the main shaft isfixedly attached the main sprocket wheel 10 to which is attached thechain 11 by which the machine driven from the same countershaft orsource of power which drives the brick press. As the brick press and thestroking-off machine must operate in harmony the brick press should alsobe driven by a chain belt from the counter-shaft. The harmony mentionedand the necessity of the same will be hereinafter more fully explained.

On what has been termed the belt driving side of the machine and fixedlyattached to the main shaft support 8 is the fixed gear 12. The shaft 9extends through the center of said gear 12. and has alfixed at its outerend the disk 1-3. In this disk is arranged a bearing wherein isjournaled a short spindle to which is fixedly attached the planetarygear 14 meshing with the gear 12, and the sprocket 15' and upon whichrotatably mounted the rear end of the pitman 16'. It will. be understoodthat when the shaft 9 is rotated the gear 12 remaining stationary whilethe disk 13 revolves-with the shaft 9 a rotary motion will be impartedto the gear 14 by reason of its meshing with the gear 12, and that thisrotary motion will be imparted to the sprocket 15 fixedly attached tothe spindle upon which the gear 14 ismounted, and that a reciprocatingmotion will be imparted to the pitman 16.

On what has been termed the clutch side ofthe machine the sprocket 17 isfixedly mounted upon the shaft 9 as is also the disk 18 corresponding insome respects with the disk 13. Upon the disk 18 is arranged a wrist pinwhereto is attached by suitable bearing the rear end of the pitman 19.It will be understood. that as the shaft 9 retates the sprocket 17 andthe disk 18 will rotate with it, and that a reciprocating motion will beimparted to the pitman 19.

The head of the machine consists of two head pi'eces20 and 21 which arecastings of cotter forms a spindle or bearing upon which the the designshown inthe drawings and are arranged upon the I-beams or guides 4, insuch way as to be held in place as against lateral. or vertical movementbut permitting a longitudinal, horizontal. sliding movement upon thesaid guides 4. This construction is well illustrated in Fig. 6.

At the forward end of the pitman 16 the pin 22 extends transversely in ahorizontal plane, bothtoward the inside and the outside of the machine,the inner end of the pin being adapted to be pivotally mounted in thehead piece 20 and held in place by the The outer end of the said pin 22beveled gear 24 together with the integral sprocket 25 is rotatalflymounted. The chain 26 extending from the sprocket 15 to the sprocket 25is designed to impart rotary motion to the sprocket 25 and the beveledgear 24 integral therewith when the said sprocket 15 is rotated. Thepitman 19 is or pin 28, this connection between the pitman and the headbeing similar to the connection upon the pitman 16 and the head 20before described.

The head 20 is provided with the integral bracket 29 having a belt guide30 for the purpose hereinafter set forth and the extended collar orhearing 31 having an i nner box or bearing 32, in which is journaled theshaft or spindle 33 and an external bearing surface upon which ismounted the drum 34, which is provided with theenlarged box 35 adaptedfor bearing upon the said surface. The beveled gear 36 is fixedlyattached to the spindle and meshes with the beveled gear 24. The saidspindle 33 extends through the box 32 and is fixedly attached to thedrum 34 journaled upon the collar 31. It will be understood that when arotary motion is imparted to the beveled gear 24 motion will be impartedto the gear 36 and with. the gear 36' will rotate the drum 34. Upon thehead 21 is pivotally attached the yoke 37,. which carries the spool 33rotatably mounted upon the said arms and the set screw 39 by means ofwhich the yoke 37 may be adjusted upon the pivot 40 with reference tothe head 21 for the purpose of tightening or loosening the belt 41. Thesaid belt 41 extends around the drum 34 through an aperture in the head20, across the machine on a plane with the top surface of the knife ashereinafter described; through an aperture in the head 21 over the spool38, back through the aperture in the head 21 under the portion ofthebelt justmentioned across the machine through the aperture in the head20 over the'belt guide 30 adapted to hold the said belt in an upperplane to clear the tops of the-brick molds, and around the drum 34 asdescribed. It will be understood that when the drum 34 is rotated thebelt 41 will move continuously across the top of the machine at the rearof the knife and carry away to the side of the machine any surplus claywhich may bepushed back by reason of the shaving off of the clay fromthe edges of the bricks by the said knife. 2

The knife 42 consists of a blade of'stee] sharpened at its forward edgeand at its rear edge attached tothe knife back 43, at g a slight angleto aline directly transverse of the machine. This will so dispose-"theknife that one endof its cutting edgewill hereinafter set forth the back43 is extended in the form of supports 44 and 45, which supports areround in cross-section, and extively. The said supports may be formedintegral with the said back 43' or may be tend through the heads 21and'20 respec-fl fixedly attached thereto. The apertures in the heads 21and 20 through which the supports 44 and 45 pass are of the nature ofboXes in which the supports may not only slide longitudinally but mayalso be rotated so as to lift or lower the cutting edge of the knife. Atthe outer end of the support is arranged a collar 46 rotatably mountedupon the support 45 but held against longitudinal displacement on thesupport 45 by the adjacent fixed collars. The collar 46 is provided withthe pin 47 to which is pivotally attached the pitman or arm 48, the

other end of which is provided with a right 1 angled portion journaledin a suitable hearing in the head of the drum 34. It will be understoodthat when the drum 34 is rotated, a reciprocating movement will be.imparted to the support 45 through the pitman 48, thus moving the knifeback and forth across the machine.

To the outer end of the support 44 is fixedly attached the arm 49 whichis curved at its free end as shown most clearly in Figs. 2 and 4. Thisarm is of sufficient weight to aid in holding the front or cutting edgeof the knife down to its place upon the top of the mold, in thisfunction acting as a weighted lever. However, the arm 49 has anadditional function, which is the lifting of the knife at the end of itsforward stroke. This is caused by the arm 49 coming in contactwith andriding upon the loose pulley 50. The object in lifting the said knife isto bring the cutting edge of the same above the surface of the molds andinto the sand box 51. through the opening 52 provided with the hingedslat or door 53. The sand box 51 is arranged upon the end of the guides4 near the end of the stroke of the knife. It is supported at each sideupon the guides 4 and is fixedly attached thereto, the bottom 54 beingsufliciently raised above the table 55, to enable the molds to passunder the same. as the knife advances toward the end of the forwardstroke the arm 49 riding upon the wheel 50 lifts the cutting edge of theknife by rotating the supports 44 and 45 and brings the said cuttingedge to the opening F2; The head continuing to advance pushes the knifeagainst the door 53, which rises, permitting the knife to enter thesand. box and come in contact with the sand therein contained. The shaft9 continuing to revolve will start the head and with it the knife on itsbackward movement withdrawing the knife from the sand box, permittingthe door 53 to fall and thus retain the sand in the said box and the arm49 being freed from contact with the wheel 50, will drop by gravity theweight of the knife itself also aiding and the edge of the knife willagain rest upon the top of the mold as illustrated in dotted lines, inFig. 5.

The brick press feeds the molds containing the bricks upon the table 1and by feeding a succession of such molds upon said table moves acontinuous line of said molds along the table 55. which table is on alevel with the table 1. The cutting edge of the knife 42 will rest uponthe top edges of the molds and will shave or stroke off the bricks in atrue and uniform way as it advances and recedes again and again with thehead of the machine sliding back and forth along the guides 4. Duringthese movements back and forth along the guides 4, a continualreciprocating motion across the machine will be given to the knife 42,and. the clay scraped off by the knife and pushed back across the knifeback 43 will be deposited upon the moving belt 41, which being in motionwill act as a conveyer to remove the surplus-clay to the side of themachine.

After the bricks have been shaved off in the manner described, the moldscontinue to 1 advance along the table 55 and onto the rapping table Thisrapping table has a surface very slightly lower than the surface of thetable Portions of the table 56 are cut away and rollers 57 provided,which are journaled at their ends to suitable bearings in the table 56,so as to revolve freely. The uppermost point of the periphery of saidrollers is very slightly above the plane of the table 56 and in a planewith the surface of the table 55. A mold will therefore, when pushedonto the rapping table be supported upon the rollers 57. which willpermit it to be freely moved crosswise of the machine in eitherdirection. The rollers 57 intermediate their ends are provided with acircumferential groove to accommodate the adjusting rod 58. which holdsthe buffers 59 in spaced adjustment with relation to each other.

The buffers 59 consist of the buffer supports 60 and the U-shaped bufferarms 61. The buffer supports 60 are provided with transversely disposedbases such as' shown in Fig. 9. which bases are adapted to adjust mentin suitable grooves in the shaft supports said grooves being numbered62. The grooves 62 are T-shaped in cross'section and are adaptedtherefore to hold the buffer supports in position while permittingadjustment of the same transverse of the machine. The aperture 63 isprovided in the buffer supports 60, which aperture is screw threaded andadapted to receive the screw threaded ends of the adjusting rod 58.These threads are arranged right and left so that in turning the rod 58in one direction the buffers 59 will be brought closer together while byturning the rod in the op posite direction the said buffers will beseparated from each other. Suitable lock nuts or their equivalents arearranged upon the rod 58 to prevent its turning after appropriateadjustment of the buffers 59 has been lit) ' across the said rollers.

obtained. It will be understood that the rod 58 crosses the machine in aplane lower than the top edge of the rollers 57, thus in no wisehindering the movement of the mold The buffer arms 61 are pivotallyattached to the buffer supports so that if the ends of the mold do notstrike the arms in a true line, the said arms may readily accommodatethemselves to the angle at which the said mold strikes them.

For the purpose of reciprocating the molds and rapping them against thebuffers the transversely sliding rod 64 is provided. This rod isarranged transverse of the machine and its ends located in guide ways 65in the main shaft supports 5. Located upon the rod 64 are twobifurcated, mold engaging. brackets 66' adapted to slide longitudinallyupon the bar 64. The pins 66 are located through the bar 64 and. a shortcoiled spring 66 arranged. upon the said bar between the said pin andthe bracket 66. The bifurcated bracket. extends upward on either side ofthe adjusting rod 58, said rod there by holding the brackets 66 in theirproper vertical position.

In order to impart a reciprocating movement to the bar 64, the pitman 67is provided, which. is pivoted to the bar 64 at one end and at the otherend is pivoted to a pin upon the back of the beveled gear 68 mountedupon the stud bearing 69, which is fixedly attached to a portion of theframe as shown in Fig. 8. The beveled gear 68 meshes with the beveledgear 70, which is keyed to the rotatable shaft 71. The said shaft 71 isjournaled in a portion of the frame as illustrated in F 8 and in Fig. 3,the said portion being numbered 7 2. The

clutch head 73 is also keyed to the rotatable shaft 71v and the saidclutch head 73 and beveled gear will therefore rotate together with thesaid rotatable shaft 71. The sprocket 74 is loosely mounted on the shaft71 intermediate the gear 70 and the.

clutch head 73.

The sprocket 74 is provided with the aper ture- 75 adapted for thereception of the clutch pin 76 when the parts are in appropriaterelation. The clutch pin 76 is ar ranged through an aperture in theclutch head 73 and is drawn toward the sprocket 74 by the coil spring 77attached at one end to the head 78 of the clutch pin and at the otherend to the clutch head. 7 3. It will be understood that when theaperture in the clutch head coincides with the aperture 75 in thesprocket the spring 77 will draw the clutch pin 76 into the aperture 75thus locking the sprocket 74 and the clutch head 73 together.

The disk 18 is provided at one point upon its circumference with the cam79 adapted to engage the short end 8.0 of the clutch le .ver, which ispivoted. at the, point. 81 to a bracket arranged upon the'main shaft;support 8; The long end 82 of the clutch. lever is curved as shown inthe drawings, and is adapted to bear against the face 83 of the.

ranged with a diagonal point 85 which is.

adapted to enter between the head 78 of the pin 76 and the face 83 ofthe clutch head 73? and thus raise or draw the pinv 76rout; of:

engagement with the aperture 75 in the sprocket 74. The coil spring 86is attached at one end to the main shaft" support 5 and at the other endto the long end 82 of the clutch. lever and is adapted to hold thepointy 85 against the surface of the collar 84. It will be apparentvthat" so long asthe. end of the clutch leverv is permitted toengage thevcollar 84, the pin 76 will. be lifted when it comes in contact with theend of the said lever, and it will also be apparent that when the cam 79 comes in contact with the end of the clutch lever, it will. swing thesaid.

lever on the pivot 81 in such way as to throw the end 82 away from theclutch head 73 and permit the spring 77 to draw the pin 76 toward thesprocket. 74 and to engage the aperture 75 therein when the saidaperture registers with the said pin.

As has been stated the sprocket 17 is edly mounted upon the main shaft 9and rotates therewith. The chain 87 extends between the sprocket 17 andthe sprocket 74, and is designed to impart rotary motion to the sprocket74 when the shaft 9 is rotated.

During the operation of the machine the shaft 9 is continually in motionand the sprocket 74 will therefore be in continual rotation and willrotate the clutch head and beveled gear 70 whenever the clutch pin 76 ispermitted to enter the aperture 75.

It will. be understood that the aperture 75 registers with the aperturein the head 7 3 in which the clutch pin 76. is located once for eachrotation of the sprocket 74 but that the pin 76 will be permitted toengage the aperture 75 only at such time as the cam 79 is in engagementwith the end 81 of the clutch lever. As the sprocket 17 is of greaterdiameter than the sprocket 74, the engagement of cam 79 with, the clutchlever 81 will coincide with'the registering of the pin 76 and aperture75 only once in several revolutions of the sprocket 74, the number ofrevolutions depending on the ratio of the sprockets 17 and 74.

The movement of the molds along the 1 I H V v a stroking-off machmecomes to a temporary 1 l cla11n,' rest and it is at this lnstant thatthe rapping i mechanism is intended to operate. As has been stated thepress and stroking-oil machine should be driven by chain belts from thesame countershaft or source of power, in order that the brick press maybe pressing one mold while the stroking-01f machine is rapping one ofthe molds already pressed. This may be easily accomplished byappropriately arranging the chain belts mentioned. The stroking-offmachine and the gears and chains thereof are so arranged that at theinstant the brick press is pressing a mold and the line of molds on thetable 55 has come to a stop and one mold is located on the rollers 57 ofthe table 56 the cam 79 will engage the short end 80 of the clutchlever. Instant-1y the pin 7 6 will be permitted to enter the aperture 75 and motion will be imparted to the rod 64 through the intermediatemechanism heretofore described. The brackets 66 will engage the ends ofthe mold as well illustrated in Fig. 7 and with a resilient backing byreason of the operation of the springs 68 will alternately move the moldupon the rollers 57 and rap the same against the arms 61 of the bufiers59 on the two sides of the machine. Practically about two raps on eachend of the mold will be found sufficient and the machine illustrated inthe drawing is designed to impart that number of raps. By a movement ofthe rod 58 adjusting-the buffers 59, an increased or decreased impactmay be given as desired. The gear 70 will make but one revolution whenthe head 7 8 of the clutch pin will engage the point 85 of the clutchlever which has returned to its original position after the passage ofthe cam 79 beyond the portion 80 of the said lever, and the said pointwill enter between the face 83 of the clutch head 7 3 and the head 78 ofthe pin 76, thus drawing the pin 7 6 out of engagement with the sprocket74; and discontinue the rapping movement of the bar 64. Itshould beunderstood that while the mold is being rapped it is freely movable uponthe rollers 57 and the rollers being on a plane with the table 6, as thebrick machine pushes out the mold it has just pressed while the rappingoperation was taking place, the movement of the line of molds will beresumed and the mold just rapped will be pushed out upon the table 6from which it may readily be taken away and the bricks removedtherefrom.

It will be understood that the stroking-off machine herein described maybe used with any brick press which presses clay into molds and pushesthe said molds out from the said press when the pressing operation iscompleted. The press and stroking-off machine can readily be made tooperate in harmony and thus successfully accomplish the objects setforth in this specification.

1. The herein described stroking-off ma chine comprising a table adaptedfor the travel of molds containing bricks,'guides arranged at the sidesof the table, a head consisting of head pieces adapted for slidingmovement upon said guides, a knife supported between said head-piecesupon rotatable transverse sliding supports, the said knife arranged withone end of its cutting edge in advance of the other end, a sand boxhaving an opening, said box being arranged near the end of the forwardstroke of the said knife, an endless conveyer belt arranged at the rearof said knife, means for sliding said head back and forth along saidguides, means for imparting to the said knife a reciprocating motiontransverse of the ma chine while said knife is being moved back ward andforward with said head, means for actuating said conveyer belt, meansfor lifting the cutting edge of said knife to a position to enter theopening in the sand box and to return said edge to position for theperformance of its work when the head recedes from the sand box.

2. The herein described stroking-off machine comprising a table adaptedfor the travel of molds containing bricks, guides arranged at the sidesof the table, a head consisting of head pieces adapted for slidingmovement upon said guides, a knife supported between said heads uponrotatable sliding supports the said knife arranged with one end of itscutting edge in advance vof the other end, a sand box having an opening,said box being arranged near the end of the forward stroke of the saidknife, an endless conveyer belt arranged at the rear of said knife,means for sliding said head back and forth along said guides, means forimparting to the said knife a reciprocating -motion transverse of themachine while said knife is being moved backward and forward with saidhead, means for actuating said conveyer belt, means for lifting thecutting edge of said knife to a position to enter the opening in thesand box and to return said edge to position for the performance of itswork when the head recedes from the sand box, a rapping table providedwith mold supporting rollers, buffers arranged at the sides of saidtable and means for automatically engaging a. mold on said rapping tableand reciprocating it across said table so as to bring it in contact withsaid buffers and means for alternately operating said rapping mechanismand discontinuing said operation while the remainder of the machinecontinues its operation.

3. In a brick stroking-0E machine, a table adapted for the travel ofmolds containing bricks, guides arranged at the sides of the table, ahead consisting of head pieces adapted for sliding movement upon saidguides, a

knife supported between said heads and I ceive said molds, mold engagingbrackets",

adapt-ed for transverse reciprocating movement, means for moving thesaid head alternately backward and forward along said guides, and meansfor simultaneously reciprocating said knife in a direction substantiallytransverse to the line of travel of said head.

4:. In a brick stroking-0E machine of the character described, analternately advancing and receding stroking-off knife, a table arrangedbeneath said knife and adapted for the support of molds containingbricks, the said knife adapted to scrape or stroke off the top edges ofsald bucks, a sand box arranged near the forward limit of the stroke ofsaid knife, and means for raising the cutting edge of said knife fromthe said molds and bringing it into engagement with sand in the saidsand box.

5. In a brick stroking-off machine of the character described, anadvancing and receding stroking-oil knife adapted to be re ciprocatedsimultaneously in a direction sub stantially transverse to saidadvancing and receding motion, a table arranged beneath said knife andadapted for the support of molds of brick, a rapping table provided withmold supporting rollers adapted to re-- buflers arranged upon saidrapping table and means for reciprocating said mold en; gaging bracketstransverse of the machine whereby said molds are rapped against thebuffers, substantially as described. 7

6. In a brick stroking-01f machine, of the character described, anadvancing and receding stroking-ofi' knife adapted to be reciprocatcdsimultaneously in-a direction su'br stantially transverse to saidadvancing and receding mot-ion an endless conveyer belt arranged toadjoin the back edge of said knife and adapted for the reception ofsurplus clay pushed from the back of said knife, means for continuouslyactuating said knife and belt and a mold supporting table arrangedbeneath said knife and belt and adapted to support molds of bricks inpos-ition to be engaged by the cutting edge of said knife, substantiallyas described.

In testimony that I claim the above, I have hereunto subscribed my namein the presence of two witnesses.

HARRY C. KU-NKLE.

WVitnesses J, A. Jnrrnns, F. W. BOND

